


THE MESSAGE

by StarWars1977



Category: Star Wars/The Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 10:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5782972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarWars1977/pseuds/StarWars1977
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chewbacca receives a message:  Come home.<br/>Han Solo takes his friend back to his homeworld to find out what is wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	THE MESSAGE

"Ho, there!" The loud, thunderous greeting stopped Leia in her tracks,

halting her progress across the wide hangar. It was a mammoth, facility,

filled with ships, speeders and equipment, and it buzzed with activity

as Rebel technicians redied the new base on Hoth for operation. 

She looked in the direction of the gravely voice, which spoke again.

"Step lively, gal an' gie an old man a hand." The beefy red-bearded fellow

flashed a wide, friendly smile at her.

"Mac's the name. I'm haulin' med supplies for this wee get-together." He 

waved a hefty hand, indicating the area.

"The Deck Commander can help you, sir." Leia advised him politely. assuming

him to be one of their regular, trusted shippers, of whom she saw precious few.

"I'm lookin' for an old buddy o'mine," He continued, oblivious to the woman's 

remark. "By the name of Solo. Han Solo."

Leia smiled as she took in the sight of the raggedly-dressed man. She should have

known. Only that pirate would have friends like THAT. Friend, huh?, she thought to herself.

Outwardly, she merely replied. "Solo? I don't believe I'm familiar with the name."

"Well," Mac gave a slight chuckle and wink, "He might be usin' a different name, but

if Han boy is on this base, a lass smart as you would've already heard from him." The

adjective clearly had nothing to do with intelligence; the Princess felt her cheeks color

slightly in spite of her best effort to stop it.

The freighter let loose a booming laugh. "Aye! Han's here. He told me all about this security

business, an' I wasna to ask for him, but blame, gal, I've got a message for his co-pilot Chewbaca

I canna be delvierin' it, 'less I ask for 'im, now, can I?"

"I'll be glad to deliver it for you." Leia offered.

"NO. But you could bring Han to me. I'll not be turnin' loose of this message 'til I know

Chewie gets it for sure. You go fetch Han, an' I'll be findin' this Deck Commander you spoke of 

an' get some help unloadin' the cargo."

Leia sighed, impatiently. She was far too busy to be wasting her time tracking down the

one person on the base she'd spent most of her time trying to avoid. Mac turned to leave, and she

knew it was useless to try to convice the man to give her the message.

 

**************************************

"Have you see Han?" Leia poked her head through the open door of Luke's quarters.

Luke was busy stacking informational cartridges next to his read-out. "Not lately." He replied.

"Do you know where I might find him?"

"You want to FIND Han?" Luke asked, a teasing note to his voice.

"It's business." She said flatly.

"Try the mess hall," He advised. "If I see him, I'll tell him you're looking for him. That ought

to make his day."

"Don't do me any favors." Leia retorted as she left.

*************************************************

After checking the mess hall, passing by the bay where the FALCON was parked, and asking

numerous techs, aides, soldiers and pilots of Han's whereabouts, Leia was becoming increasingly

frustrated at not being able to find the one man whose habit was to be around when you didn't

want him, especially since she was wasting so much of her time with an apparently fruitless search.

She was about to give up and appoint some junior lackey to the task when she heard a familiar voice.

"You lookin' for me, your High and Mightyness?" Solo rounded the corner behind her.

Leia swirled to face him, making a mental note to throw in a sarcastic remark about his maddening

swagger the next time they were in a heated, personal confrontation.

"Yes, I am. Where were you?" She didn't try to keep her irritation from showing.

"Some things are private." He smiled wickedly. "Now, you've found me, what's so important?"

Security Guards who passed the couple, smiled at them, thinking Solo and the Princess were

squared off for another battle.

"There's someone here to see you." She told him.

"Oh?" His interest perked.

"It's NOT female." She assured him flatly.

"Then it can't be too important."

Leia fumed and grabbed his shirt sleeve. "Come with me."

Han stood rooted to the spot with Leia tugging at his shirt until a couple of pilots were

within hearing range, then spoke loudly. "You want me to go WHERE with you?"

The Princess turned to see the two curious faced men staring at them. "SOLO!!!"

" She just can't resist me." He shrugged to the now whispering pilots. 

Leia gave a strong pull and Han started walking beside her.

"You didn't say who this someone was," He reminded Leia on their long walk down the

icy halls to the bay areas.

"There's a lot of question I want to ask." She spoke tight-liped

as she stopped and faced Han. His name is Mac, said he's a buddy of yours, and he has a

shipload of supplies for the base. He also said he has an important message for Chewbacca."

She paused, but only for a second.."How DARE you, Han! Jeopardizing our operation, just to give

one of your pirate friends a job...."

"Wait a minute, Princess." Han read her thoughts. "Mac's got just as much to fear from the

Empire as the Alliance does. There's no way he'd give location information to them. He was a

perfect cover for those medical supplied you needed. A regular freighter would've been monitored.

It's common knowledge that pirat....uh...independents frequent routes that carry them to

uninhabited worlds or rim systems to cover their....trade secrets. There won't be any suspicions 

aroused, just 'cause he just happened to pass somewhere 'near' Hoth."

Leia remained silent. What he said DID make sense. 

"What message?." Han returned to the question at hand.

"I don't know." Leia told him. "He wouldn't tell me; he just said it was important." She watched

as the smuggler's facial features altered in response to the information, but made no comment.

*************************************************

"Be careful, lads." Mac bellowed. "They winna be payin; me for damaged goods, so handle wi' a

feather." He surpervised the three rebel workers unloading the crates and boxes.

"Hey, Mac!" Han called to him as he and Leia walked up to the ship.

The pirate raised his bushy eyebrows in delight as Han approached with a curious Princess in

tow. "Han, ye old devil! How ya been lad?" Han was suddenly englulfed in a hug that would have 

crushed a bram. " Let me look at ye." Mac eyed the spacer from head to toe. "Still in one piece, I

see. Nothing bionic, is there?" He winked a playful eye.

Han smiled, "No, not yet."

"Want ya to know how much I'm obliged to your for sendin' this work my way. Runs for an old

star rider come few an' far between, these days." 

He turned serious. "See you've hooked up with a pretty good outfit, here, laddie." He nodded

to Leia, "some of the prettiest rebels I've ever seen."

"Mac," Han began an introduction, "This is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

Leia gave a quick nod and smiled.

"Well..." Mac Mananged, "I'll be. Sorry to hear the fate of your homeworld, lass. Everyone in the galaxy

must know of it by now." Mac placed a hand over his heart in an expression of reverence, partially

allaying the Princess' irritation at Han's lack of discresion in giving her name and title.

She dismissed the awkward moment by asking, "You said you have a message."

"Aye, that I do." He groped for the carefully folded piece of parchment in his pocket.

"It's for that wooly partner of yours." He said handing it to Han,

Solo read it carefully. When done, he looked up. "I've got to find Chewie." 

"Good luck, laddie, see you next time around." Mac called after the quickly exiting pilot.

Leia ran to keep up with Han's quick steps. "Han, what is it?" She asked the grim faced Solo.

Han did not reply. Nearing the FALCON, he saw Chewbacca welding a load-lifter that had

broken when they delivered their part of the supplies to the base. He waved and caught

Chewie's eye. Chewbacca lifted the goggles, and responding, he shut off the welding gas

tanks and walked to Han.

"You better read this, pal." Han told him, giving him the piece of paper.

Leia, standing at a respectful distance, to give them privacy, watched as the Wookiee

scanned the message. Chewbacca bellowed loudly.

"Right away." Han agreed.

The Princess could contain her curoisity no longer. "Right away?"

"We're gonna leave, Your Highness," Han told her. 

Leia was floored. Not only had he used her proper title, but...well, she hated it when

he didn't smile that cocky, foolish grin. Something was up. Something wasn't right.

She had no time to ask as Luke called from across the hangar. "I see you found Han."

He came up to them. "It must've been important , the whole base was looking for you,

he glanced at Han, who only nodded at his statement.

"What's up with him?" Skywalker asked an equally perplexed Leia.

"Chewie got a message,." she explained, then voicing her impression of the situation.

"It must have been bad news."

"Han...?" Luke promted.

Solo took a deep breath and placed his hands on his hips; "It was from Chewie's lifemate, Malla.

All it said was 'Come home.'".

It was Luke's turn to shrug. "So, why don't you just contact her from here and find out what it

is? No sense in wasting a trip and it'd be too dangerous to leave the area right now, with all the

Imperials looking for us."

"If Mac made it so can I." Solo answered. 

"They couldn't send a message if they wanted to," Leia reminded Luke. "We're under

communications silence, untill everthing's secure."

"Chewie wouldn't settle for that anyway," Han said. "I owe my life to him - and Malla.

"There's no way I wouldn't take him to Kashyyyk, if that's what they want."

"It's such a long distance." Leia spoke anxiously in spite of herself. "Will you come back?"

Realizing what her words implied, she continued quickly, to cover herself. "We still need your

help."

Han looked at her for a long time. "It all depends on what we find when we get there."

He said. "But, we'll be back...sometime."

Chewbacca barked an impatient demand at his partner, and everyone realized how strained

the moment had become.

"Ah...Luke.."Solo cleared his throat. "Tell Rieekan we'll be back when we can. I'll find the

Deck Officer and arrange for liftoff clearance."

"Let Leia tell him," Luke started, 'I'm going with you."

"No" Han spoke more sharply than he had intended. He sighed deeply to settle himself.

"Look, Leia needs you here. We'll be alright. Kashyyyk is a Wookiee world. It takes a lot of

getting used to." He winked to try and ease the tension.

Luke sighed, accepting the situation. "The Force be with you both."

***************************************************************

"Don't worry, Chewie." Han's voice rose over the low warming thrum of the FALCON'S

engines. "We'll be there in no time, and everything will be all right, you'll see." He realized

that he was trying to convince himself as much as his partner.

Liftoff was uneventful and once they were in the black cloak of space, Han wondered what they

would find when they returned to Hoth. He shook the unsettling thoughts from his mind.

"I'll go fix us some ahva." He said, rising from the confines of his pilot's chair. "We could both

use a lift." He gave his partner a reassuring pat on his massive shoulder.

In the galley, he filled two cups with deyhdrated granules, added water and placed the cups

in the heating unit. In moments, they were steaming, and he looked forward to settling down

and enojying the invigorating beverage. Moving gingerly, he removed the superheated drinks

from the unit. At that moment, the FALCON lurched sharply and he was doused with half a cup

of the burning ahva. Swearing at both the stinging splashes and his co-pilot, Han made his

way back to the cockpit.

"What're you doing..?"

Chewbacca grumbled an explaination and an apology in one breath. Han growled. "Well,

keep your mind on what you're doing, or we'll never get there." He placed a cup in its holder

near the Wookiee, and resettled into his chair. "I know you're worried, but I'm sure there's nothing

seriously wrong."

Chewbacca woofed and growled.

"Well, I can't say I'm absolutely sure, but a message doesn't always mean trouble." Chewie made a lengthy 

reply, ending in a question as Han sipped at his still hot drink. "Yes, I can remember the last two times

Malla called you home without an explaination, but three times in all these years isn't much."

His furry co-pilot shook his head between sips from his own cup.

Han answered his question. "All right, let's see; there was the time Itchy was going to be voted in as member 

of the local High Council. That wasn't bad news." Chewie alternately barked and laughed.

"Oh yeah," the Corellian recalled, "I'd forgotten what happened AFTER the election. That WAS a problem

Okay, so there was one time an emergency called you home."

Chewie snorted his opinion of Han's short memory.

"Whaddaya mean, I forgot about Lumpy? I just didn't want to get you more upset by mentioning it.

For a two hundred year old Wookiee, you sure don't have much patience. Just settle down and drink

your ahva."

************************************************************

Much later, Chewbacca once again vented his impatient anxiety by rapping on the sensor screen.

"Hey, pal." Han attempted to calm him a bit. 

Chewie barked and left the console, heading for his quarters. Solo knew he was very worried,

but hoped the Wookiee would rest. 

While he was alone, Han took the opportunity to send several messages to outposts with

which they were familiar, hoping to find some news.

*************************************************************

When Chewbacca returned to the cockpit, the Wookiee appeared much calmer.

"Just a little bit longer, and we'll be there." Han informed his friend.

The Wookie seated himself, and remained there, unmoving, at the controls.

It was only then that Han realized that he had mistaken Chewbacca's mood for 

calmness; Chewie had apparently resigned himself to the worst.

"Look, buddy," Han began, "Malla's allright. She sent the message after all.

She couldn't have if something had been wrong with her." Chewbacca remained still.

"The note didn't say anything specific. She would've told you, if it had been

anything really serious." Han still saw no reaction from Chewie.

Quickly losing his temper over his friend's resigned fatalism, he grabbed the

worn piece of paer, still clutched in the Wookiee's paw. Waving the parchment

under Chewbaccas' nose for emphasis. "No where does this say 'danger',

'trouble', 'emergency'. Chewie remained silent.

Han took a deep breath...."I made some inquiries while you were in your cabin,

and no one answered with any information. If Imps or slavers were around, or if 

there'd been a natural disaster, it would've been known by now."

The Wookiee looked up, realizing his friend had done everything he could. No matter what had

happened back home, Han would be there for him. Reassured somewhat, Chewie relaxed 

considerably; he had their friendship.

"Chewbacca growled as he adjusted the readings on his side of the flight console, attempting

normal routines once again.

"Well, yeah," Han agreed, 'there is something going on, but let's don't go borrowing trouble."

The two pilots settled into the confortable silence that grows between friends and waited out

the remaineder of the flight.

*************************************************************

"The landing area's clean, no sign of any battles fought here recently." Han commented as

they exited the FALCON. Chewbacca lifted his head, using all senses to detect any trace of

danger, or anything out of the ordinary. Han rested his hand on his blaster, ready for action if the

need arose.

"Doesn't look like anything's wrong." He concluded. "Let's go on to your house and see what's

up."

Han didn't mind the trek through the lush green jungle of Kashyyyk. During the lengthy times

he was confined to his ship, he had almost forgotten what vegetation looked and smelled like;

planetfall on a wasteland such as Hoth was no reminder. The heat from the sun was a welcomed

sensation on his back and shoulders. He watched as Chewbacca made his was gracefully

through the underbrush; this was his world, and he knew every bit of it.

On the outskirts of the village, Han spotted several Wookiees huddled together, talking.

When the group spotted the two spacers, they immediately fell silent, watching as Chewbacca

made his was toward home. When hailed by the furry pilot, they responded only with the

customary welcome, then moved indoors, quickly. Han didn't like that, something WAS wrong.

Word of Chewbacca's arrival in the village spread quickly, and soon, many of the tree-dwelling

citizens lined the verandas of their hometrees, watching as the summoned head of his house neared

his residence. Although they called the common welcome, Chewbacca marched on doggedly. Han

grew more and more apprehensive for his freind. "Remember, pal", he assured his friend, "Things

aren't always as bad as they seem." But, under his breath, he reminded himself, 'Now, if only I

could remember that.'

Chewbacca barely heard his words. Wookiees usually kept to themselves, and the fact that many 

others were watching and whispering made Chewie realize that something had drastically affected his family.

Taking the rungs two at a time, Chewbacca quickly ascended to his tree home, causing Han to hurry in order to

keep up.

They reached the door together. Now that the answer was so near, they hesitated to enter. Han rubbed his

palm over the butt of his blaster, nervously. he sighed, "Well, are we going in?"

With a quick nod, Chewbacca pushed the door open and entered his home, Han right beside him.

They stopped in the doorway, eyeing every nitche. The study was complete; Itchy roused from a nap

in his rocker, Lumply was playing quietly in the corner, flashing them first with a look of fear, then

one of delight when he recognized Han and his father. Chewbacca, noticed Mall's sister, Remma, near a

large cooking pot; she had squealed at their forceful entry. Malla herself entered the main room quickly,

to see what all the commotion was about.

Chewbacca rushed to her, and they clasped in a Wookiee-embrace. Han closed the door, watching as

Lumpy wriggled in between his parents, also eager for some attention from his dad. Everyone gathered

'round as Chewie voice a barrage of questions at his life-mate. To each inquirey, Malla shook her head

negative. Chewbacca then barked a final question -'What was going on?'

With a slight nod of her head and a soft growl, she gestured for her mate to remain in the large common

room, then disappeared into another.

"What is it?" Han asked. A puzzled rumble told it to all. "A surprise, huh? Han said.

Lumpy squirmed with excitement, and Itchy smiled knowingly. Soon, Malla appeared with a small, wrapped bundle

and placed it in her life-mate's awkward arms. Han drew back the covering from the baby Wookiee's fuzzy face

and grinned.

"Your daughter!"


End file.
